They call themselves "Hijab bloggers". There are thousands of fashion bloggers all over the world, but these are somewhat unusual - an integral part of them is a scarf called a Hijab and other traditional Muslim clothing. In articles and videos they publish on the Internet, they want to show the whole world what modern Muslim women look and live. "The way people think about us is awfully old-fashioned," they say.
Clothes according to the latest trends, colorful scarves, distinctive make-up and lots of accessories. This is not a description of models from a fashion magazine, but a picture of modern Muslim women.
They are becoming more and more open to the world and showing their lives publicly on the Internet. They use both YouTube and fashion blogs for this. Together, they want to break down prejudices about what it means to be a Muslim.
No trampled bloggers in boring black robes. These ladies are modern, confident, they are building a career, they are living socially, they are believers - and they are not afraid to write about it on blogs and talk in videos. They inspire not only readers, but also clothing and cosmetics companies such as BlackCamels.com.pk, which suspect great financial potential among the Muslim population.
Meet some "hijab bloggers".
It's March 2015, and the BBC's third channel is broadcasting the documentary Muslim Miss World. The main character is a pretty young girl, perhaps too self-centered. She is Dina Tokia, a 26-year-old Englishwoman of Egyptian descent.
Before introducing herself to the world on television and the Internet, she studied design at university. But after a while, she left school voluntarily because she did not fit in with the headscarf - as her faith requires.
So she found a job in a call center and set up a fashion blog in her free time. "It's a way for me to show the world that even if you wear the hijab, you can look great," she told The Guardian. Within two years, her mere hobby became a full-time job, which led her, among other things, to establish her own clothing brand.
Today, Dina is spoken of as one of the most famous hijab bloggers in the UK, and as she confirmed to the daily, it is common for people to get to know and stop her on the streets of London.
Another blogger who doesn't take pictures other than in a scarf or turban is Ascia Al Faraj, better known in the fashion world as Ascia AKF. She currently lives in Kuwait, but she also has some American blood in her body.
She launched a blog about personal style in 2012 with her husband Ahmad. "I founded it in the hope that I could help social change among Arab women. I want to encourage them to be bolder in dressing and still not deviate from the moral principles of Islam," she told Muslim magazine Aquila Style.
And her efforts are clearly successful - in four years, she has amassed more than 1.7 million fans on Instagram and thousands more on Twitter and Facebook. She also started a business in the fashion business. He sells children's clothing on the Internet under his own brand Desert Baby.
Success in the fashion industry is also celebrated by British-Japanese designer and blogger Hana Tajima. She was recently noticed by the well-known Japanese brand Uniqlo and asked her to cooperate.
The result was a collection of 99 pieces exactly according to Hana's fashionable taste and specific taste. The news of cooperation with Southeast Asia spread faster than the earthquake, and the fashion magazines Vogue and Fashionista did not forget to mention it either.
Although they were part of the hijab collection, Hana suffocated that her clothes were not just for Muslim women. "It's for everyone. Personally, I like the idea that a woman from a completely different background or with a completely different taste will say about a piece from the collection: It could fit my style, I could wear it," she explained on the American Vogue website.
Another celebrity among Muslim bloggers - 22-year-old Ruba Zai from the Netherlands. She started in 2013 as a so-called vloger (a blogger who makes videos) on YouTube.
Her most successful videos have over a million views, the most popular viewers have watched even more than two million times. Most of these short videos revolve around a traditional Muslim headscarf: how to tie the hijab in an interesting way, what color or print to choose, how to put on it
When she is not sitting in front of the camera, she makes a model for various companies with which she collaborates, organizes events for her fans or workshops, where she personally shows how to work with the hijab.
"It can be difficult for a young woman living in the 'Wild West' to find the perfect balance between faith, fashion and society. That's why I want to inspire other girls who are trying to find their way through life, just like me," he comments. Is publicly presented on the Internet. "I like to show that the way people think about Muslim women is very old-fashioned," he explains.
